The Future of Calgary - East Village (EV)

There is an entire area east of downtown, underutilized. About 10 years ago the city started a mission to create a vibrant and dynamic urban expansion of downtown in that space.

Many of you who are traveling via hostels, the Calgary HI Hostel is located in this quarter of the city  and the first thing you need to understand when/if you arrive there is that this area is undergoing a huge overhaul. If you take sometime to explore the area you will see the beauty of the East Village and find the beginnings of a important cultural addition to Calgary.

If you want to see Calgary at its best - an East Village event is where it's at! The East Village is the ideal place to see the potential Calgary has for more culture and community involvement. You can check out all the upcoming opportunities on the EAST VILLAGE WEBSITE.
 

Tourists take advantage of the free ride Tuesdays - you can get a free tour by BikeBike experts of the Calgary area, save some loonies and head to the new and upcoming East Village noon-1PM. You do need a bike though... might be a bit of glitch but you can head to Eau Claire to rent one! Hurry because the snow is coming.

At the moment I only have a few places to recommend to you newcomers to Calgary in the East Village, but my main suggestion is to poke around. Have a stroll down the Riverside Walk, check out Fort Calgary - although in my opinion its not worth the entrance. If anything take the drive to Heritage Park, but that is for a later blog. Continue to the Calgary Zoo pay a visit to the penguins, but stop by the Simmons building - the new heart and beginning of the EV. Take in whatever event is happening that day - maybe the yoga at noon or just a few food trucks poking around.

A delicious destination is the Village Ice Cream "artisanal ice cream and sorbet" which opened this summer with delicious flavours such as Bourbon (swear I could've got drunk), Beets (could almost taste the dirt) and all the vanilla and chocolaty original favourites.

There will be more to write about the East Village in 2014 when construction is estimated to be completed. At the moment you have to keep checking back on facebook as well as the website with the goings on of the EV community and new stores popping up, including the new Village Brewery and grocer coming soon!

A few resources to learn more about the history of East Village include
Calgary Herald Article
FFWD Article